


I Know I'm Not the Only One

by samy2606



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: All The Ships, All The Unresolved Tension, Fluff, Gen, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, Kissing, M/M, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, Sort Of, There are more ships, Thiam, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension, first story ever, ill add more as i go - Freeform, kinda canon complaint
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2018-02-07
Packaged: 2019-03-13 17:26:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13575417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/samy2606/pseuds/samy2606
Summary: Theo Raeken is a constant pain in Liam's ass, but maybe, just maybe, Liam isn't actually that angry at him. Maybe its UST, who am I kidding its definitely  UST, but when a new girl shows up in town, bringing with her a shit ton of problems, will Liam and Theo ever get their shit together?I'm so sorry, I suck at summaries. Thiam doesn't become apparent until later chapters. Be gentleFirst ever story





	1. The Awkward First Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> This is my First ever fanfic, so apologies in advance for how bad this might turn out, thiam and all that won't really appear for a while, till our girl here actually opens up to these knuckleheads.  
> Follow me on Tumblr @lovelifeandthiam
> 
> THANKS FOR READING!!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All her life Salma had been labeled a freak, but when tragedy strikes again, will she run, or will she stand and grieve?

All my life I had been labeled a freak, so it was no surprise that when I was 11, I was diagnosed with IED, Intermittent explosive disorder, and ADHD, making me the actual freak of Johnson High School, the only high school in a small town called Winter County, Texas. 

You see the problem with growing up with the same people and living in a small town, is that everyone knows everything about everyone, like when I was diagnosed, when my mother walked out on us, and when my dad died. 

The day my dad died had been just another normal day of school, it was December of my senior year, we had 1 week of school left, and at noon I was pulled out of class, and informed that my dad had died on duty in a shootout. I don’t remember much after that, it was all red, but I was told that I had destroyed half of the lockers in the hall, and was screaming like a banshee. I was inconsolable for days there was a funeral, where the entire town came because he was the Sherriff. But no one visited me though, not that I wanted them too. I had been given waivers on all my exams, so 3 days after dad died, I ran. I dropped out school, sold the house, took all the money that was left to me, and ran. I was 18, it's not like it mattered, no one would care. 

So, I ran as far as I could West. I had always known that I wanted to end up in California, so I drove to California, looking for a place to finally settle down, maybe actually finish high school. When I ran into Beacon Hills.  


Beacon Hills, sounded exactly like my old town, small, everyone knows everyone, but there was an air of mystery surrounding many animal incidents that happened in this town, but nonetheless, something in my gut told me to stay, and I did. 

I bought an apartment in an empty building, found a good paying job, and after much consideration enrolled back in school. When I arrived for my 1st day of school after winter break. I met with Ms. Martin in her office. “Don’t worry, you are not in trouble, All I wanted to do was welcome you to Beacon Hills High School Salma, we are very glad that you decided to enroll in school again. Now I have 2 things to tell you, first, we do not tolerate any kind of discrimination here at Beacon High, and second, if you ever feel overwhelmed or that something weird is going on, my door is always open, you aren't the only student we have with IED” She stated, I nodded and thanked her. 

I took my schedule from registration and set off to my first class, Economics with a Mr. Finstock. I made my way to the room, noting that class had already started, and inwardly cringing that I would have to walk in there and everyone would stare at me, but nonetheless, I steeled myself for the inevitable and marched into the class with my head held high. 

When I walked into class, the teacher stopped in the middle of what looked like a lecture and turned his crazed eyes to me. He looked like he was about to yell, but I shot my hand out and gave him my schedule as if that would fix anything, he took a moment to read the paper, meanwhile I could feel the gaze of practically everyone in the class, could hear the whispers, but I ignored them and focused on the man in front of me. Then gave me back my schedule and turned to the class, “Alright listen up dumbasses, this Salma, she is new, try to to scare her off with your freakish tendencies” he turns to me “Just take a seat anywhere” pointing vaguely at the room, which is funny since there is only one seat open. I make my way over to the desk, set down my stuff, and take a seat.  


The teacher starts talking, very loudly might I add, again “Like I was saying, I am coach Finstock, like most of you, know by now, if you thought you could slack off in this class, well, YOU THOUGHT WRONG, even if all I care about is lacrosse, doesn’t mean I can’t teach, I know everything, see everything, so don’t think you dirty little jerks can get away with anything, capiche?!” I tuned out Coach after that, and taking a survey of surroundings, noting a boy with an earring who is constantly smiling at his phone and the boy in front of him who looks like he is about to pass out, I almost jump in my seat at Coach yelling, “DUNBAR, I SWEAR TO GOD YOU FALL ASLEEP I WILL REVOKE YOUR TEAM CAPTAIN STATUS!!!’ and then he goes back to doing whatever he was doing at the board. “Dunbar” jolts up so fast with a gobsmacked look on his face, it makes me chuckle, he glances back at me, narrows his eyes, and turns to the boy behind him with an exasperated sigh, who looks like he can’t hold in his laughter. 

“I just wanna get some sleep Mase, is that too hard to ask?” he whines quietly, “Mase” replies, still trying not to laugh, “No one told you to go out to the woods at midnight with Brett and Theo, Li”. Dunbar rolls his eyes, growls (I know straight up GrOwLs), and turns back around. I also turn back around and start working on the assignment that was passed out. 

When the bell rings, I quickly stand up, grab my stuff and leave the room, when I enter the hall, I look around trying to find my locker, I quickly make my way to the other side of the hall, where my locker is, and start putting some of my stuff up, I close my locker, take my schedule to try to see where my next class, standing a couple lockers down form me, are the two boys from my Econ class, I openly stare at them when they are joined by 5 other guys. 

I stand there staring at them all, something inside telling me to go talk to them, but I instantly shoot that voice down, not realizing that some of the group had noticed my unwavering stare and turned to look at me, alerting the rest of their friends. I suddenly feel a couple of heated stares directed at me and I try to pay attention to my surroundings and notice the entire group of boys staring back at me, gazes heated with emotions varying from anger, indifference to curiosity. I quickly turn around to make my way to my next class, almost stumbling down the hall, safely making to my next class, but realizing that I hadn’t escaped from the situation, when 2 of the boys from the group enter the class, but thankfully sit on the other side of the class.  


I breeze through the rest of the day without incident but quickly come to realize that I have one, or two, if not all, of the group of boys I saw earlier in all of my classes. Anyways, everything is great until lunch, I haven’t talked to anyone all morning, and I hadn’t planned on doing so, but clearly, others didn’t get that message.

Phone boy slowly approaches me where I am standing at the entrance of the lunchroom, I try to slyly look for a place to go before he arrives, but he apparently notices because he speeds walks to me and sticks his hand out “hi I’m Mason, you must be Salma, the new girl, right?” I nod, and slowly take his hands, shake it once then let go. “Hi”, I reply quietly, I clear my throat and reply more clearly, “Hi, yeah that’s me”, “Great, would you like to come sit with me and my friends at lunch?” he asks, already turning around leading me there before I can reply, “yeah, thanks, that would be nice” I say drifting off, following him. 

The table we are he and towards seem to be in a heated discussion, I instantly regret saying yes, quickly trying to figure out a way to disappear without Mason noticing, but he turns around and grabs my arm, “well come on now, we don’t have all day” and drags me to the table. When we arrive, 4 pairs of steely eyes turn towards me, silently assessing me, as if trying to see if I am a threat, I stand there awkwardly not knowing what to do, when another boy comes up from behind us, literally appears out of nowhere, kisses Mason, and drags him into a seat. “Come on Salma, sit down,” Mason says, gesturing to a seat across from him and his boyfriend. I stand there like the awkward ball of fury I am, looking at Mason, then at the seat, then back at Mason, I hesitantly sit down, and the conversation goes back to normal.

I stay quiet all the way through lunch, not sure what to say, but I feel like occasionally, someone might wanna talk to me, but don’t. They talk about the most random things that surely make more sense to them in context than to me, but the lunch wasn’t a total bust, I quickly learned all their names, Mason’s boyfriend is Corey, the extremely tall one with the dazzling smile is Brett, next to him is Nolan, kinda short but very angel like. Sitting next to me, is Theo, who seems to be the supposed “bad boy” of the group, and on his other side is Liam, who honestly resembles a puppy, but was extremely quiet throughout lunch, something that Mason took note of, but nonetheless they seemed like a very welcoming bunch, and I was grateful for the company. 

After Lunch, Mason asks me what my next class is, “oh I think it’s...” I take my schedule out and look, “Biology with Ms. Finch”. “Oh, Corey, Nolan, Liam and I have that too!!” he exclaims, looking too excited for someone going to biology. He grabs my arm, again, and drags me to the class. We enter, and the teacher stops me before I get any farther, “And who are You?” she asks in a sardonic tone. I give her my schedule, she looks at it, then looks back at me, “So you’re the new IED kid, huh?” she continues, with a unpleasant glint in her eyes, out of the corner of my eyes I see Mason and Liam stiffen up, but put it in the back of my mind for now, I nod “Yes, that’s me” I reply. The bell rings, and everyone sits down, I make a move to do the same, but she stops me, “Why don’t you introduce yourself, IED?” she says. I feel the beginning of an episode deep in my heart but breathe to try and stifle it. “Yes ma’am” I reply curtly, she turns towards the class, “Listen up kids, this is our new kid, don’t get her too mad now, or she might just explode,” she says while waving her hands in a bomb motion. 

Some of the class laugh, but I see Mason staring at the teacher with pure hate in his eyes, the same with Corey and Nolan, and Liam looks like he is about ready to tear the bitches head off. Thankfully, I was used to the bullying by now but made a split-second decision that I would make sure that this time it was different. When the teacher looks back at me, with a smirk, I smile, and begin to introduce myself, “Hi, my name is Salma, and yes, if you piss me off, I’ll get mad, its why I’m here, I got expelled from my last school, for putting 6 football players in the hospital in critical condition and destroying the library.” I say in the most cheerful yet serious tone. I go to take a seat and see Mason and Liam slide away from each other, and I go take a seat between them. I look up and Ms. Finch is looking at me with pure disdain, and the rest of the class, look mildly apprehensive, I give her my biggest smile, and turn to look at Mason, who smiles, but his eyes tell me that we will be talking about this later, I turn to Liam, and see him looking confused but intrigued, when he sees me looking, he smiles, and turns back to the front, and so do I. 

The rest of the lesson goes by without much incident except for Ms. Finch occasionally giving me the dirty eye, and Liam staring her down until she stops, it surprises me that he would stand up for, essentially, a stranger, but it fills a void in my heart with warmth, that I hadn’t felt in so long, belonging. After the bell rings, I gather my things and leave the class with Mason, Nolan, Corey and Liam flanking me, forming a perimeter around me, Mason and Corey walk with me to my locker, and theirs, which is weirdly next to mine. After I put my things up, I close my locker and see Mason and Corey standing, waiting for me. “What class do you have now?” Mason asks. “Oh, I have a free period” I reply, smiling. “Really? That’s great so do I” he says excitedly. Suddenly Corey kisses Mason on the cheek and leaves. “What’s up with him?” I ask flicking my head towards Corey running down the hall. Mason smiles and replies, “Lacrosse, they all play”. “And what do you do?” I ask. “Well, I watch, silly” he winks, and then turns around and starts walking away, I stand there confused when I hear Mason yell, “Well aren’t you going to come?!” I chuckle and jog after Mason, who takes us outside to the Field, and goes up the bleachers.

He takes a seat, and gestures for me to take the seat next to him. Once I sit down, Mason turns towards me, and I sigh, already knowing where this conversation is going to go. Right before Mason says anything the lacrosse team makes their way out onto the field. “I guess, you are gonna ask?” I say, dejectedly. He sighs as well, and puts his hand on my shoulder, “I just wanted to let you know, that we are here for you, Liam has IED as well, and he still struggles with controlling it, so we understand.” He says with a soft smile. “Should you be telling me this?” I ask, unsure, “That sounds extremely personal”. His smile grows “Yeah, don’t worry, Liam won’t mind.” He says. “I just have one question, though.” He says with a nervous smile. “Shoot” I reply. “Did you really get expelled for putting 6 people in the hospital and destroying the library?” He asks with an underlying tone of awe, which throws me off, I didn’t expect this reaction for sure. 

“Yes and no” I reply slowly. He looks at me to elaborate. I laugh, and continue “I didn’t get expelled, I dropped out, but I did put 6 dudes in the hospital and destroy the library, and half the main hall as well.” I say cautiously. “Wow, Intense,” He says. I look up at him and see him grinning, and I smile back. Suddenly, someone from the field yells “HEADS” and Mason grabs me, and we duck. While a lacrosse ball zooms past our heads and lands behind us. I get back up and drag Mason up too, and we both look to the field and see Coach chastising Nolan, while Liam, Theo, and Brett, laugh it off, with Corey looking at Nolan with an exasperated sigh. Mason and I look back at each other and start laughing too, we see Nolan look up at us sheepishly with an apologetic smile, when Brett approaches him and messes with his hair, internally I remark that Nolan looks at Brett like he hung the moon, but that’s for further investigation. 

I’m drawn out of my thoughts by Coach yelling at me, “Hey, New Girl, Pass the ball Back!!!”, I point at myself, “Yes, you, does anyone else look new to you?!” He yells. Mason passes me one of Corey’s lacrosse sticks, which just happened to be lying around. I take the stick, scoop up the ball and swing the stick, throwing the ball, which lands into Liam’s Net, halfway across the field. Coach gapes up at me, moving his head to look between me and Liam, looking like a confused duck, while Liam, Theo, Nolan, and Brett looked at me with surprise. I look back at Mason, who just smirks, “the surprises just don’t end with you do they?” he says while chuckling. I shrug and sit back down, smiling as well, while the team continues practicing.

Practice finished not 2 hours later, with me and Mason gossiping away about various things, him informing me about all the happenings of BHHS, while I was tight-lipped about everything from before. I knew that eventually, I would have to tell them about my past, why I had no parents, why I dropped out, but for now, I reveled in the feeling of finally having friends. After Practice, we all went our separate ways, Mason and Corey going off to do whatever couples do, Theo and Liam leaving to Liam's house, since Theo had been staying there as well, while Nolan and Brett stayed behind claiming to want to get some extra practice, but one look at Mason and I could tell that there would be no practice going on. I smiled and waved, heading to my car, starting the engine and making my way to my apartment. 

The building I lived in was not too far from the school, but it was also near the woods, it wasn’t a lavish place, but it was big enough to be comfortable and small enough not to feel too vacant. The landlord had given it to me half off, claiming that he didn't need to take my money and that I was the 1st person to live there. Ignoring how shady that sounded, I bought the apartment and moved in with what little things I had, but over the course of the 2 weeks I had been in Beacon Hills, I had bought furniture, starting to make the place feel more like home. When I arrived home, I put my things up and started on dinner, which consisted of me popping a bowl of mac n cheese in the microwave and pulling out a can of soda. I sat down on the table in the kitchen, pulled out my homework and started working on it, breezing through most of the work seeing as it was not that hard to understand. When I was done, I put my plate in the sink, deciding to worry about it later, and went into my room to try and get some sleep. Since I was exhausted, once my head hit the pillow, I was out like a light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So That's it for Chapter 1!! I'm currently working on chapter 2, and also maybe a filler chapter about Nolan and Brett, and what exactly they get up too at practice, thoughts?  
> Kudos and Comments are much appreciated!!  
> love, Samy


	2. "Practice"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What exactly do Brett and Nolan do at practice?

Nolan made his way back onto the field, followed by Brett, Nolan picks up his lacrosse stick and practices his shots. Brett stands behind Nolan, observing him, noting the tension between his shoulders, he approaches him and puts his hands on his shoulders. 

“What’s going on little hunter?” he asks while rubbing his shoulders. Nolan shrugs him off and replies “Nothing,” curtly. Brett’s eyes flash gold, he stops Nolan’s stick from swinging, takes it out of his hand and drops it to the ground and carefully makes his way to Nolan’s front. Nolan closes his eyes and his head slumps forward. “Nolan, talk to me,” Brett says gently, bringing his hand up to cradle Nolan’s cheek. Nolan nuzzles the hand on his cheek and sighs. “I just, I’m really worried about the rogue alpha that has been prowling the preserve and..” he says dejectedly. Brett frowns, “and what Noley? What else has been bothering you?”. 

Nolan slowly opens his eyes, carefully bringing them up, making eye contact with Brett, “This New Girl, you didn’t see what I saw Brett, her eyes look haunted, the way she holds herself like she doesn’t know what happiness feels like, it reminds me of him.” Nolan says, choking on a sob. Brett wraps his arms around Nolan, cradling his head to his chest, Nolan’s shoulders shake, sobbing quietly, fisting his hands in Brett’s shirt, while Brett whispers sweet nothings in his ear. They don’t know how long they stand there, but Brett could tell that they had been out here for more than an hour. 

Suddenly, the field lights shut off, which causes Brett to chuckle his chest vibrating, causing Nolan to look up at him and smile, resting his chin on his pecs. “Come on Love, lets go take a shower” Brett says, grabbing Nolan’s hand and leading him into the locker rooms, they undress and step into the shower, Nolan knowing that this isn’t sex, this is comfort through physical contact, Brett holds Nolan close and they stand there for 10 minutes, letting the water cascade down there bodies, eventually, Brett turns the water off, Nolan shakes his head, spraying Brett with water, and laughs, while Brett mock growls. 

They exit the shower stalls, going to put on clothes, Nolan finishes first, grabbing his bag, and waits for Brett, when he is done, Nolan grabs Brett’s hand and leads them outside to Brett’s car. They toss their things in the back, but before Brett goes to the drivers’ side, Nolan grabs his hands stopping him, Brett looks back, and Nolan looks up at him and bites his lip. Brett turns to stand in front of Nolan, placing his free hand on his waist. Nolan leans forward, brushes his lips across Brett’s and pulling back when Brett surges forward, deepening the kiss. Nolan lets go of Brett’s hand and grabs the front of his shirt. When they break apart, the need for oxygen becoming too great, they rest their foreheads against each other, Nolan opens his eyes slowly, to find Brett’s stormy greys already staring, he smiles cheekily and let’s go of Brett, and gets into the car. Brett stands confused for a couple seconds, before smiling widely and doing the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little filler chapter, giving you a bit of insight on whats going on, and of course just a bit Nett.  
> Thanks for Reading!!  
> Kudos and Comments are appreciated  
> Love, Samy


	3. The Unexpected is now the Expected

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Night terrors are common in Salma's Life, but why does this one seem to be sticking around? What exactly happened in the woods? Are Brett and Nolan Together? And What is going with Theo and Liam?

_I ran as fast as I could, down the empty road, I couldn’t see much, tripping over branches on the floor, I kept glancing at me, there was a figure chasing after me, a woman, she was laughing, cackling, and screamed “I’ll get you eventually Salma, no matter how far you run, where you hide, I’ll find you, and then I’ll kill you”. I kept running, but then I tripped over a rock and fell to the ground, I rolled over trying to get up, but she was too fast, she kicked me in the stomach, then put her foot on my chest, she was standing over me with a knife, I kept begging for her to stop, that I would be better and then_

I screamed, jolted awake, heart beating erratically in my chest. This wasn’t the first time I had that dream, and I knew, deep down, that it wouldn’t be the last. Going back to sleep was not an option, I had had enough of the night terrors, so I got up, changed quickly, put on my shoes, grabbed my keys and left, I went out into the woods, and took off running, trying to forget the sound of the woman’s laughter, the way blood was splattered across her chest, I kept running and running, until I couldn’t feel my legs anymore. Eventually I stopped, not knowing where I was, I looked around, trying to determine where I was, I grabbed my phone from my pocket, trying to use the GPS, and realized that I had no signal, so I walked for 10 minutes, on what I assumed was the trail I used, when I heard rustling in the underbrush, I froze, looking around trying to see what it was, I brought out my phone, turned the flashlight on, and approached the bush, when I reached forward and pushed back the branches I found a little bunny shivering and bleeding from a wound on its belly. But when I went to pick it up, I heard a growl behind me, I turned around, and found red gleaming eyes staring at me, I retracted my hand, turned off my flashlight, and started backing away from the bushes, but clearly the creature didn’t like that since it growled even louder.

I stood still, assessing my luck if I ran, when the creature started approaching me, I could make out the form of a wolf, and then I took off running, I ran as fast as I could, and I could hear the wolf running behind me, but I pushed myself, running faster, trying to make it to the main road, but I couldn’t hear the wolf anymore, so I stopped running, trying to assess my environment, figure out where I was, when suddenly the wolf pounces onto me from in-between the trees. I fall backward, hitting the forest floor, and the wolf bites my neck, I scream in pain, reaching out my hands seeking for anything, when my right-hand meets something, I lift it up above my head, bring it down, stabbing it, where I assume the wolfs heart is. The wolf howls in pain and slumps off me. 

I get up grabbing for my neck, feeling the blood oozing from the bite on my neck. I walk over to the wolf, see it twitching and whimpering. Unbeknownst to me, my eyes flash yellow, as I walk over, put my foot to the wolfs neck, its whines increasing, I grab onto the branch I used to stab it and push it deeper twisting, and the wolf howls one more time before slumping, the life leaving its body, and my eyes flash red. I wipe my hands on my pants, and then the fog clears, I look down at my hands, seeing the blood, and tears start streaming down my face, I run, trying to get away from the scene when I stumble upon the main road. Immediately I pull out my phone, opening the GPS, and use it to find my way back home. 

Thankfully I wasn’t that far away from my apartment just a mile or so out. So, it doesn’t take much time for me to reach my house, strip and climb into the shower, desperately trying to wash away the blood. My neck starts stinging, and I remember the bite the wolf had delivered before I managed to stop it, I turn off the water, climb out of the shower, pull the first aid kit out from underneath the sink, hastily I clean the wound and dress it, tying the bandage around my shoulder. I go back to my room, checking the time, it's 4:36 am., I get dressed and try to get some sleep before school the next day. 

I wake up to the sound of my alarm, and silently thank whomever that I had no more nightmares. I go to the bathroom, and instantaneously the events of my late-night run return to me, I quickly untie the bandage from around my shoulder, looking away whilst I unwrap it, but there was nothing there. I poke my shoulder, feeling normal as if nothing ever happened. I leave the bathroom, lost in my head when I accidentally hit the wall, and I see that it's 7:30, and realize that if I dilly-dallied any more I would be late for school, so I hastily get dressed, grabbing my bag and keys, and drive to school. 

I arrive at school, and see Mason waiting for me at my locker, I walk to him and smile. He whistles “you look like shit”, I laugh and shake my head. I open my locker grabbing the things I need for the day. “well, I didn’t get much sleep last night” I reply, closing my locker. “why?” he asks, forehead furrowed worryingly. We walk together to the courtyard, heading to the table with the rest of our friends, “well, the weirdest thing happened, I went for a run late at night, I know that was a bad idea, but I got chased by a wolf, and it bit me, but when I woke up there was nothing there.” I tell him, hiding the fact that I killed it. Mason’s eyes widen, and he looks shocked, but we had already arrived at the table, and I shot him a look, to silence him before he says anything else, hoping he understands, he gives a short nod, and I smile. We sit down, Mason next to Corey, and I next to Theo. I look over to see Nolan and Brett sitting closer than yesterday, with Brett’s arm around Nolan, I look at Mason, making eye contact and we both grin, laughing slightly. “What?” Theo asks, one eyebrow raised. “Nothing, nothing” “Inside Joke” Mason and I say at the same time. “Inside joke? No fair, you’ve known her for 1 day, and I’ve known you for 8 years, why don’t we have inside jokes, Mase?” Liam asks. Mason laughs, “Because you always forget them Li,” Liam pouts, and Theo puts his arm around Liam, “Don’t pout Baby Wolf, we can have plenty of inside jokes,” Theo says while wiggling his eyebrows, and Liam turns red. We all laugh, and I glance at Mason, raising an eyebrow, he grins, and I smirk, looks like Brett and Nolan aren’t the only 2 familiar with a river called the Nile. The bell rings signaling first period, and we all rush to our 1st class, Mason and I taking the lead, still laughing, with Liam grumbling behind us. 

We walk into Coach’s class and take our usual seats. Coach walks in right after us, “It is not a good morning today, you filthy animals, so do not, I repeat, do not TEST mE!” he yells. Mason and I stifle our snickers behind our hands, and Liam snorts. “What was that Dunbar? Did you say something?” Coach asks, Liam’s face slips into a frightened expression, and shakes his head, “Yeah, that’s what I thought, open your textbooks to page 146 and read quietly, if I hear a single peep out of you little punks, its gonna be 5 Laps around the track, you hear?!” he yells. Liam, Mason, and I exchange a look, and laugh silently, but do as we are told.

Class goes by fast, Coach sits at his desk grumbling and yells at anyone who breathes loudly, and the whole time I can feel Mason shooting me worried looks. The bell rings, and we all gather our things to leave, but before I can, “Salma, wait” Coach yells, I look at Mason and Liam and shrug, I stay behind, and Mason and Liam do too. “Have you ever played Lacrosse?” Coach asks I shake my head. “Would you like to?” he continues, “Coach, I don’t know how,” I say before he interrupts me, “that wasn’t a No, you’re coming to Practice today.” My eyes widen, “But Coach—,” he puts his hand up cutting me off, “No, No ‘buts’ You. Are. Coming. To. Practice” he says pointing at me. “Coach, really I’m honored, but I don’t know the 1st thing about lacrosse,” I say, hoping to change his mind. “Ok, so?” he says, “I don’t see the problem, you will watch for a while, then you’ll play, sounds good?” he says, my jaw slackens, and I gape, “great, see you at 3:00” he says, looking proud of himself. He then shoos us out of class and slams the door. 

I turn around, looking at Mason and Liam, my mouth hanging open, when Liam reaches over and closes my mouth, “Don’t keep your mouth open like that, you look stupid” he says. I look at him, and then look at Mason, then glance behind me at the door, then back at them. “Don’t worry,” he says, “Coach will do anything to win, and he thinks you can help the team, so, don’t worry about it, you’ll get the hang of it eventually” He affirms. At that moment, Theo rounds the corner, approaching us, and Liam turns towards him, smiling at him, and Theo returns it. I glance at Mason, and we exchange a knowing smile. “What’s going on?” Theo asks, Liam is still gazing up at Theo, smiling looking lost, I clear my throat, which seems to break Liam out of his trance, he blushes when he sees Mason and I looking at him expectantly, he turns to Theo “Oh, Coach wants Salma to play Lacrosse” he waves his hand vaguely in my direction. “Hmm, you can Play?” Theo leers, “No, that’s what we were just talking about” I reply, squinting at him, not liking his tone of voice. 

“Well, we could probably teach you, but we can continue this at lunch, right now we have to get to class” He states, he then ruffles Liam’s hair, grabs my arm and walks away, dragging me with him, when we turn the corner, I snatch my arm back, glowering at him. “What’s your problem?” I ask him, glaring. He smirks, then pushes me onto the wall behind me, towering over me, “If you think you can have Liam, you thought wrong. He. Is. Mine.” He growls, poking me in the sternum after every word. I laugh, and he pulls away, surprised. “If you think I’m after your little puppy, then you’re dumber than I thought,” I say, smirking. He squints at me, “then what’s your game?” he asks, curious. “I don’t have a game Theo, I just moved here to get a change of scenery, and now I have friends, is that wrong?” I state, trying to hold a strong front.

“No,” He replies, “But, I know you are hiding something,” I frown, “But I will drop it for now, but if you try to hurt my pa-Friends, you will never see me coming” he continues threateningly. On the inside, my fight-flight instincts are going crazy, but I know, that standing down is the best option. “I don’t expect anything less” I reply, keeping my tone level, as to not let him know that I’m scared shitless. He looks at me for a second, analyzing, calculating, and smiles, pleased with what he found, then sticks his arm out to me, I smile back and take it. He walks us to our next class, that we share with Brett, who cocks an eyebrow at our conjoined entrance. I make to let go of Theo and go to my seat, but he tightens his arm and leads me to a seat near him and Brett. I give him a small smile and sit down. Class fly’s by and so does the rest of the day. 

I wait for Mason by my locker, so we could both head to lunch. I zone out, leaning against my locker, thinking about the events of last night, when I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn around and see Mason and smile, he smiles back, but then it immediately drops. “What’s wrong?” I ask, worried. Mason’s eyes widen, but then he quickly smiles again, “Nothing, Nothing, Soooo, about what happened yesterday?” He says, evading the topic. I squint, not buying his lie, but shrug it off, “yeah, it’s crazy, I mean, what kind of wolf bites humans, Right?” I say. He laughs nervously, “yeah, what kind?” he repeats while scratching the back of his head, “By any chance, did you see where it went?” Mason asks. I trip and fall, but catch myself, “Woah you ok?” Mason asks worriedly. “yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” I say, brushing myself off, “Why do you ask?” I say, trying to hide my nervousness. “So, we can tell the Sheriff, you know, and put it down?” he asks. “I don’t think you have to worry about that,” I say, quietly, scared of his reaction, he stops walking, and so do I. “What do you mean?” he asks slowly, I shudder, and I feel tears running down my face. 

“I’m Sorry, I’m sorry, it’s just, It was chasing me, and then I fell, and it bit me, and it wouldn’t let go and I was scared, so I stabbed it, and it died, please don’t hate me, Mase, please” I say, sobbing. Mason wraps his arm around me, shushing me, trying to calm me down, “Hey, hey, I’m not going to hate you, I don’t, it was self-defense, we will figure something out ok, I promise.” He says quietly, he hugs me, while I try to calm myself down. Once I stop crying, I untangle myself from him, and wipe my face with my shirt sleeve, “Sorry,” I mutter quietly. He, puts his hand on my arm, “Hey, no, don’t apologize, but I think we should tell the rest of the guys.” He says, eyes crinkling worryingly, I shake my head quickly, “No, no, what if they hate me? Please, Mason, don’t tell them!” I Exclaim, “ok, ok, I won’t, but trust me, they won’t hate you,” He says, right before we reach the table. 

We sit down, and quickly conversation starts about random things. I can feel Mason’s gaze on me every couple of minutes, and I try to smile back reassuringly. I think back to when the last time someone worried about me, and start thinking of my dad, but am quickly drawn out of my thoughts by Brett, “So, I heard Coach wants you to play with us?” he asks cheekily, his arm around Nolan, “Yeah,” I reply, not sure how to react. Brett looks at Theo and they share a smirk, and they both turn towards me, “Well, everyone knows that Me and Theo are the best players on the team,” “Hey!” Liam yells, but Theo hugs him from the side and he quiets down, “Maybe you should practice with us” Brett continues. I look at Mason, eyes wide when Liam answers for me “Yeah, that’s a good idea,” I try to shake my head at him, and Mason does as well, but Liam is too focused on Theo to notice. 

I look at Brett, and he has this glint in his eyes, when Nolan speaks up, “Don’t you think that might be a bit hard on her, maybe she should train with me you know because,” I see Brett trying to silence him, but Nolan doesn’t notice, so he grabs his face and kisses him, and we all whistle, except for Liam, who looks confused. “When did this happen?” Liam asks, baffled. Theo and Corey laugh, while Mason looks disappointed, “Liam, I have literally been here for 2 days and I could tell they were into each other, this was a long time coming” I proclaim, “Yeah, Baby wolf, how did she figure it out before you?” Theo asks I freeze up at the nickname, and Mason nudges my foot with his, calming me down. Theo senses me freeze up next to him, and looks at Me, eyes calculating, I smile weakly, and he cocks an eyebrow, I shake my head, and he turns around. 

The bell rings signaling the end of lunch, and we all stand to head to class, when Mason exclaims, “Oh, Fuck!” “What? What’s Wrong?” Corey asks worried, “Biology, Ms. Finch hates Salma,” Mason says, worried. “What? Why?” Brett asks, confused. Mason looks at me, not wanting to share information if I don’t want to, I smile, “Because I have IED.” I reply, Mason reaches out and takes my hand. “Oh,” Brett and Theo say, deflating a little, when Liam, who had been silent the entire time, speaks his voice low and dangerous, “Well, if she makes a problem, she will have to get through me”, I look at Liam, shocked, that someone wanted to defend me, I stand there silently, not sure what to say, I see Mason out of the corner of my eye smiling, with Corey and Nolan, sharing the same expression. 

I hear Brett growl from next to Nolan, eyes curling into fists, looking like he is about to murder someone, when Nolan, takes his hand and drags him off to the side. Theo’s calculating gaze returns to me, frowning, I turn my head avoiding his gaze. “We should head to class, you guys,” I say, smiling weakly, Liam grumbles something close to agreeing, when Brett walks over, finally calmed down. I look at Mason and he smiles cheekily at me, and I smile back when I am pulled into a warm embrace by Brett, who wraps his arms around my small frame, resting his chin on the top of my head. My eyes widen, and my arms flail for a second, trying to process what was happening, when he tightens his arms around me, and I slowly put my arms around him, resting my head on his chest, savoring the feeling of the warm embrace, my mind drifting back to the last time someone hugged me, I bite my lip to keep the tears in, remembering that the last person to hug me was my Dad, before he went to work, the day he died. 

Brett bends his head whispering in my ear, “We got your back ok, you are not alone anymore, you have us,” over and over again, I pull back after a bit, shaking myself off, and give him my biggest smile, which he returns, and then ruffles my hair, which cause me to sputter, eyes wide, mouth opening and closing like a goldfish. I hear everyone laughing at my expression when the Bell rings again, and we all run to class. We rush into Ms. Finch’s class, taking our seats, still laughing. Ms. Finch glares at us but doesn’t say anything, causing Mason and Liam knock our shoulders together, and the class goes by without a hitch. I don’t pay attention to anything being said in class, my mind drifting, wondering how I got so lucky to have such amazing friends. I smile, feeling content, glad that I decided to move to California. When the bell rings, shaking me out of my daydream. I groan, causing Liam and Mason to laugh, knowing that I would have to go to Lacrosse next. 

I make my way to the field with Mason in tow, I can feel the nerves racking through my body, my anxiety acting up, but Mason, as if sensing my impending freakout, grabs my hand and squeezes it, I glance at him, and smile, thankful. When we arrive at the field, everyone else is already running drills, and Coach is standing off to the side, yelling obscenities at the players. I glance back at Mason, and he nods at me reassuringly, I smile and jog to Coach. “About FUCKING time!!! What took you so long? Even Greenburg got here before you!” Coach yells before turning to look at me, “What the hell?! Why aren’t you in uniform?!” Coach screeches. I stand there, unsure what to do, “W-Well, Y-you d-didn’t give m-me anyt-thing to ch-change in t-to,” I say quietly, stuttering. “What was that? You’re gonna have to speak louder, I can’t hear you over all the excuses your making!” Coach says. I feel myself getting angrier, “I said ‘YOU DIDN’T GIVE ME ANYTHING TO CHANGE INTO’” I yell, breathing hard, by the end of my yell, the rest of the team had stopped practicing and was looking at us, I look at Coach, his face expressionless, before it breaks into the craziest grin. 

He claps me on the shoulder “there we go, see, I could hear that loud and clear, uniforms are in the locker-room, go get dressed,” he says, pushing me back towards the locker-room, he turns back to the field, “TALBOT GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE,” Brett jogs over, “Help her find a uniform, HEY, DID I TELL YOU KNUCKLEHEADS TO STOP RUNNING, 5 LAPS NOW!!!!” Coach turns back to the team and screams. I follow Brett back into the locker-rooms, he sits me down on a bench and goes rummaging through a closet. “So, how are you enjoying your time here in Beacon Hills?” Brett asks, head still in the closet, “Its good, definitely different then my old town,” I reply, “Why did you move to Beacon Hills? Parents get a job?” He asks while handing me a tank and leggings, I turn around and start stripping, “Uhh, no, no parents, its just me” I say back, “What? No parents?” he asks, I shrug, putting on the clothes he gave, “Uh, no, my dad, he uh, he died, and, well I have no idea where my mom is” I say, trying to be nonchalant about it.

“Woah, I’m sorry,” he says, closing the closet and turning around. “Don’t apologize, you didn’t kill him,” I slap my hand over my mouth, eyes open in shock, but there was no point, I had already said it, Brett frowns, and takes my hand from off my mouth, setting it back down, “Is that why you came to Beacon Hills, is his killer here?” He says, eyes turning a darker shade of grey, “N-no” I stutter, “His killer is dead too, umm, sorry I didn’t mean to say that,” I say, looking down, flushing in embarrassment, he grabs my chin, and lifts my head, forcing me to look him in the eye, “hey, don’t apologize, you had to tell someone,” he says, wrapping me into another hug, I freeze, wandering when hugging became a common occurrence for me, before I hug him back. “I wasn’t lying earlier, when I said we had your back, its apparent to me that you haven’t had an easy life, but don’t shut yourself out from us, we are here for you, we want to help,” he whispers, I fist my hands into the back of his shirt, burying my face in his chest, shoulders trembling, tears forcing there way down my cheeks. We stand there for 2 minutes, but it feels like an hour, when Nolan comes running in, “Hey, everything ok?” he asks, voice unsure, “yeah, yeah, everything’s fine, sorry” I reply, quickly untangling myself form Brett, blushing, hand coming up to scratch the back of my neck. 

Brett looks at me, eyes thoughtful, before he walks over to Nolan, putting his arm around his shoulder, kissing his temple, “C’mon little Hunter, lets go outside,” He says, dragging Nolan out, I hear them talking in hushed whispers, clearly, “What was that all about?” “Let’s just say that new girl has more problems than she is letting on,” “And? Why are you so interested in her?” “Jealous?” “No, I just would like to know what’s going through your head,” [sigh] “She reminds me of Lori, ok?” “I’m so sorry Brett, I didn't mean...” “it’s ok Noley, I know, now come on let’s go” and then a whistle blows. I go over to the mirrors and stare at myself, wondering who the hell is Lori? And why do they all have such weird ass nicknames? I steel myself, knowing that I have more pressing things to worry about currently, I pull my hair back into a ponytail, grab the stick Brett had set out for me, and jog outside. “Took you long enough,” Coach mutters, “Only 2 days and she is already necking in the locker rooms,” I snort, so does Brett, Theo and Liam, “uh, Coach, pretty sure Brett is already taken,” Coach shrieks, and jumps into the air, dropping his clipboard, “How the hell, I’m not even gonna ask, run a couple laps around the field and when your done, we will see what you can do, chop-chop.” 

I laugh, and jog over to the bench, dropping my stick, and go over to the start line on the track, stretching a bit, before I start running, I run 10 laps in 5 minutes, and I don’t show signs of tiring, so I push for 5 more, after I’m done, I jog over to Coach, whose mouth is hanging open. “What now Coach?” Coach keeps opening and closing his mouth, looking between me, the track and his watch, I raise an eyebrow, and glance up at Mason, who has the biggest smirk on his face, “What?” I ask, confused, “You just ran 15 laps, in under 7 minutes!! That’s what!” Coach yells, “Ok…” I say trailing off, still not getting the issue, “Be honest with me here, are you on drugs?” Coach asks, “No Coach, I’m not on drugs”, Coach gapes even more, “TALBOT, wait no, RAEKEN!!! Come here.” Theo jogs over, “Yes Coach?”, he asks, a smirk evident on his face, “I want you to teach this young lady how to play some GODDAMN LACROSSE!” Coach screams, pointing at me with his clipboard, before blowing his whistle. 

Theo drags me to the practice area and starts teaching me how to use the stick, throw the ball, etc. It goes on for an hour, like this, by the end practice I feel better about the whole lacrosse thing, and coach keeps muttering something about how this is ‘the best team since McCall and his nitwit friends left’, I briefly wonder who ‘McCall’ is, but I hurry to the locker-rooms, grabbing my things, keeping my eyes trained on the floor, trying to avoid looking at all the nakedness. I hurry out of the locker-room, going to the nearby bathroom, and changing, I look in the mirror and realize that my skin looked healthier, and the bags under my eyes disappearing, something that hadn’t happened in a while, I smile briefly at myself, before I head out of the bathroom, towards the parking lot. I see Mason and Corey waiting by their car, and I head over there. Mason tackles me into a hug, “Oh My God! You were amazing out there! See I told you there was nothing to worry about!” he says excitedly, I smile, blushing, “Thanks Mase” I say. We make idle conversation, waiting for the others.

After a while, the others join us, and they all congratulate me on my first day in Lacrosse. I approach Theo, “Thanks, by the way” I say, startling him, “For what?” he asks, confused. ‘For teaching me how to play, you’re a great teacher,” I say, smiling up at him, then I give him a quick side hug before rushing over to Brett and Nolan. Theo stands there baffled, shocked that someone had thanked him for anything, he looks over at Liam, who gives him a warm smile, before walking over and taking his hand and squeezing it, leaning into him. Mason sees this, and smiles, looking at Corey and giving him a short kiss, who smiles and returns it, leaning his forehead against the other after they pull away. Nolan and Bret both pull me into a hug, Nolan whispering that I was amazing today, that I was, for sure, on the team, and I blush at the praise. Nolan releases me, but Brett doesn’t, pulling us both under his arms, and we giggle.

I look at the little group, who accepted me into their circle without a second thought, and I’m hit with the thought that this is home, this where I belong. Liam’s phone rings, bringing me out of my reflective stupor. His face grim, he whispers something to Theo, and looks at Mason who nods, and they all excuse themselves, leaving. I stay there, under Brett’s arm, Nolan on the other side. “Well, I need to go, its getting late,” I say, pulling away from Brett, who tightens his arm around me, I look up at him, eyebrows furrowed, “Where are you staying?” he asks, not letting go, “In an apartment downtown” I reply, unsure where this conversation is going. “All alone?” Nolan pipes in, voice saddened, I nod, still puzzled as to what is going on. “Do you mind if we come stay with you then, it’s just my parents are out of town and my house gets so lonely,” Nolan states, puppy eyes in full force. I roll my eyes, trying to fight a smile, but I lose. “Yeah, you can come stay over.” Nolan jumps up and down excitedly, looking like an actual puppy, while me and Brett laugh. “We will follow you in my car, Ok?” Brett asks, I nod, and he lets me go. I walk to my car, smile not leaving my face, and I head to m apartment, Brett and Nolan following me. I smile, so wide, it feels like it might split my face, at the fact that I now have actual friends, who care if I’m alone or not, who care if I’m okay, and it makes me feel high, high on happiness and love. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Guys, I am so sorry I haven't updated that much, I've just been swamped with school work.  
> This is the end of Chapter 3!!!! Should I continue with this story, or?  
> Phew, this is a long one!! I had so many ideas and I wanted all of them in this one chapter.   
> Thank You for Reading!!!!  
> Kudos and Comments are appreciated!!!  
> Love, Samy <3


End file.
